Quote:
Originally Posted by CoNtrivedNiHilism
Not a fan of the newer stuff, even though it's actually better? That's cool. You like what you like. But my opinion is that Deftones got better as their career moved forward. The was a smart progression with each album, but I say their self titled album was their one blunder in their career. The album was not bad, don't get the idea that I'm saying it was. But their self titled sort of sounded like they were stuck. I liked the album, but I was also quickly bored of it, which for me was a first because I've never been bored of Deftones, ever.
You have your reasons for ranking their albums like you did, but you never said how long you've listened to this band or if you're new to them, new as in you knew who they were, but never really listened to their albums collectively. Your post reads like this was you first focused venture in to checking the band out, so maybe if I am correct, that explains why you listed the albums like you did.
But then again, just because I don't agree with how you rank the bands discography, doesn't change that you resonated or connected with each album in your own way based on the music you like. I was in grade school when I had Adrenaline purchased for me, that was back in 1995 and I was eight. So obviously I've been a Deftones fan for a long time. What they have put out since their debut, yes, the older stuff has a certain charm and imperfection that is appealing, but the bands newer albums are simply better. I don't approach how I rank their discography based on the typical "man, I wish they still sounded like they did when they were younger, they're not as heavy anymore..." I like bands that evolve or don't follow the same formula every album, or takes a safe approach to be more relevant that way. Deftones sound so much better now than they did in 95 man. They make better albums.
I wonder if you listened for as long as I have, would you still rank the albums like you did? Something tells me you might not.
But it's nice to see Deftones get talked about here for a change. Not a lot of people here appreciate how good they are.
|
Great post but youre dead wrong on my Deftones experience. Deftones is literally my favorite hard rock band of all time. Chinos vocals and what those guys can do with their instruments, and how they evolved is surpassed by no other band in that genre, in my opinion. I started listening right when Around the Fur came out, it was being sampled in warehouse music when you could put on the head phones and listen (that's old school!). I bought it, and a few weeks later bought adrenaline. I bought every album after that. I loved their evolution up to the point of Diamond Eyes. They just have a different sound since Terry Date left that I can't quite get down with (though I like a lot of Saturday Night Wrist). You're right, everything is much better technically speaking, but I don't feel the raw emotion or the murky dreamy atmosphere of their old work. That's the stuff I like, whether it's light and shoegazy (like Cherry Waves or Xerces) or heavier (like Hexagram or My own Summer). Go listen to Chinos vocals on Passenger, he doesn't go into that hauntingly soothing heroine mode with his tone and melodies like that anymore (he also doesn't do heroin anymore).
I agree that self titled was kind of "stuck" but that's actually what I liked about it. Though I like evolution, I was worried they would expand purely off of White Pony and go even more digital/atmospheric/abstract. Instead they reeled it in and used some elements from White Pony, some from Around the Fur, some new things (synthesizers) and a lot of the low G# tuning which I love. On rate your music someone described it saying "What I love about this is the late-night vibe which really permeates through. There's a lot of outright aggression but still have plenty of brooding, plodding, deeply tense moments which I absolutely savor. If they could combine what they did here with the best moments of White Pony and Koi no Yokan, there we'd have the masterpiece. There are some days where I feel like this may be their best."
As for the way I ranked the albums, I categorized each song with a point rating, as bad(0 points), ok(1 point), good(2 points), or great (3 points). And I added up the points for each album to see which had the most points and which had the least. Try doing this, I'm interested in how you rate albums with this system.